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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29363466">Illusion of Safety</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grumperella/pseuds/Grumperella'>Grumperella</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Febuwhump 2021: The Mandalorian Misadventures [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adorable Grogu | Baby Yoda, Angst and Feels, Din Being A Dad, FebuWhump2021, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Good Parent Din Djarin, Grogu | Baby Yoda Being a Little Shit, Listen to your force-sensitive kid Din, ManDadlorian, Protective Din Djarin, Protective Grogu | Baby Yoda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:41:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,739</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29363466</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grumperella/pseuds/Grumperella</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Febuwhump Prompt Day 7: Poisoning<br/>___</p><p>Din and Grogu take a short vacation planetside to stretch their legs, but even in a place of supposed peace, danger lurks...<br/>___</p><p>Takes place between S1 &amp; S2.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Din Djarin &amp; Grogu | Baby Yoda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Febuwhump 2021: The Mandalorian Misadventures [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2156874</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Illusion of Safety</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Re-post from my existing Febuwhump series, because I'm transitioning the multi-chap fit into a series.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wandering through the lush forest, Din took a deep breath and paused for a moment just to take in his surroundings. Orange light dappled through the tree canopy above to wash the forest floor with a soft light, the colors warming as the binary suns began to set. He looked from green foliage to blue bark moss to bright red and purple flowers… the vegetation around him starkly contrasted the dull grays of his ship. The change in scenery was refreshing. </p><p>Soft trills of excitement from below told him the kid felt the same. He glanced down and watched the child waddle awkwardly to catch up with him, stepping confidently with short strides over sticks and rocks, kicking at little piles of dead leaves as he went. </p><p>Din could hear the muted rustle of wildlife around them. Occasionally during their trek, he would tap on his thermal sensor to scan their surroundings, but thus far he’d only seen harmless game animals dart across his viewfinder, scurrying away from them. For the first time in a long time, the man felt almost… relaxed. </p><p>A bright red six winged insect fluttered across their path then. The child squealed in delight, reaching up with too short arms to try and capture it. It easily evaded his grasp and the little one ran after it, attempting clumsy little jumps as it caught air and soared higher, just out of reach. </p><p>Din smirked. It was good for the kid to get out and stretch his legs like this. He knew they couldn’t stay long, but the antsy cabin fever building in the kid had been palpable, making itself known in loud, <em> messy </em> ways... Din could admit that the last few weeks had been rough on them: stilted stops planetside for supplies that had often ended in a rushed escape offworld; long hauls through hyperspace as he followed rumors to faraway planets when he heard whispers of Mandalorians, only to find nothing. The kid had been getting restless, and to be honest, he was enjoying the break just as much.</p><p>They’d been on this moon a couple of days already, Din hunting and foraging fresh meals for them each day, showing the child how to set traps and follow tracks. He figured the child wasn’t old enough to remember any of this, but it felt good to teach him, and the kid seemed to enjoy listening to him talk.</p><p>It wasn’t just the two of them, alone, unfortunately. The dwarf moon he’d stumbled upon had no major space ports or towns, the population sparse and scattered - a real backwater skughole, just like Sorgan had been, but smaller. There were farming homesteads speckled around however. Din had made sure to land their ship miles from the nearest structure he could see, hoping to avoid the locals, but he figured they only had a few more days before someone came looking for the ship that couldn't be missed flying overhead. Watching the kid pounce on another colorful insect, Din wished distantly that they had more time...</p><p>The soft sound of a stream burbling off in the distance caught his ear through the helmet’s audio processors. </p><p>“Hey, kid,” He called, catching the little one’s attention just as he’d been crouching over and lifting up a rock to see the little bugs beneath it scurrying away. Pointed ears twitched at him, tiny teeth visible through the child’s little grin. Din’s smirk softened into a genuine smile at the kid’s curiosity. “I hear a stream up ahead, let’s head that direction.” </p><p>He pointed with a leather gloved hand towards the sound. The child’s head cocked to the side and he let the rock fall back to the forest floor, tottering after his caretaker. The child babbled nonsensical gibberish up at the armored man as they walked, peppered with little trills of exuberance.</p><p>“Oh yeah?” The man responded good-naturedly, “You don’t say.” He brushed a long fern leaf out of his way, making sure to hold it for the kid to pass before letting it fall back.</p><p>When they reached the stream, Din turned on his thermal sensor and looked left and right, examining their surroundings cautiously. When he saw no threats or other life signs, he removed his helmet and set it carefully on a stone by the small river. Crouching down, he darted out a hand to grasp the kid’s arm just as he was tottering towards the water. </p><p>“No!” </p><p>“Mueh?” The little head looked back at him innocently. Still holding onto the boy, Din waggled his other index finger at him, pointing at the stream.</p><p>“<em>Ad’ika, </em> you have to be careful. Don’t go too near the water’s edge. We don’t want you falling in.”</p><p>The child didn’t acknowledge any sort of understanding, but neither did he move closer to the water. Instead, the kid noticed a bright blue frog sitting by the stream’s bank a ways away and started waddling towards it, squealing happily. The Mandalorian just shook his head, but made a mental note to keep a close eye on the little womp rat. He didn’t fully trust him not to just waddle straight in.</p><p>Enjoying the fresh air on his face, Din closed his eyes and took a deep breath, smelling the raw bouquet of the forest. The woodsy scent of shed bark and dead brush making up the loam on which they walked… the tangy scent of unfamiliar blooms… the weight of moisture in the air as the stream kicked up a soft spray, tumbling over jagged rocks. A gentle breeze pulled at his dark hair. </p><p>It was peaceful here. Eyes falling to the child that hopped after the frog, his heart ached guiltily, wishing that he could give him something like this more… permanently. He’d tried to, on Sorgan. But then the bounty hunter had arrived… he supposed it hadn’t been meant to be. Maybe one day, when they finally found the Jedi, the kid could have… something. Someplace like this. A home. He didn’t know, but he hoped, for the kid’s sake.</p><p>Smiling sadly as he watched the little green figure bundled in oversized brown robes hop and play, Din reached down and pulled out his canteen, crouching beside the stream to fill it up with fresh water. </p><p>Angling his head the other direction to glance upstream, a white flash caught his eye. He stood, tucking the canteen back onto his belt and narrowed his eyes. It looked like fur… glancing back at the child he noticed that the kid was dangerously close to the stream edge.</p><p>“<em>Ad’ika</em>!” Rushing to his side, Din bent over to pull the kid bodily away from the crumbling edge. Looking down, he saw the little green face crane up to look at him. Their eyes met and the child just giggled happily. Din frowned. “What did I tell you, womp rat, don’t get near the water.” He sighed and hefted the toddler into the crook of his left arm. </p><p>“I think I found something interesting anyway. You want to come see?” The kid was already clapping his hands and babbling as Din made his way towards the flash of white between green leaves. Crouching down to one knee, Din used his free hand to push away the branches, revealing the remains of what looked like an ash-rabbit.</p><p>“Hm, it’s already dead," he mused aloud, "and looks fresh. Maybe we actually got lucky for once. What do you think, kid? Want ash-rabbit for dinner?” </p><p>Surprisingly, the child was squirming in his grip now, warbling sadly, pointing at the dead hare. </p><p>“What, you don’t want it?” The kid angled his head up at the man, one long ear squishing against his chest plate. Owlish black eyes blinked at him, tiny nose scrunched. The kid smacked his hands against Din’s glove, clearly upset. Din cocked his head, an eyebrow raised. </p><p>“Uh, okay, guess you don’t like ash-rabbit. Well, more for me.” He sighed. “We still have some gallaze meat left from yesterday, I suppose. You can have that, alright?” </p><p>Still, the child made urgent, sad noises and slapped at his arm, pointing at the animal carcass. Din shrugged helplessly.</p><p>“I don’t know what’s upsetting you, kid, I’m sorry. Listen, you don’t have to look at it, okay?”</p><p>He stood and eyed a stone by the stream where yellow and red spotted frogs sat, croaking. Striding over to it, the bounty hunter deposited the child a few feet away, gently pushing the youngling towards them. Immediately, the bright colored frogs grabbed the toddler’s attention and he launched himself at them, easily catching one in his clawed grip with a vibrating trill of victory.</p><p>Shaking his head, Din turned and grabbed his helmet, then made his way back to collect the ash-rabbit, wrapping it carefully in his hunting cloth before tying it to the rifle strap on his back. </p><p>Well, that was one less thing he had to do today.</p><hr/><p> </p><p>The rest of their day had been leisurely, following the stream a ways until they found a man-made dam stunting its flow. Din figured they were nearing one of the farms now, and ushered the kid back the direction they’d come, following the stream back through the forest towards the Razor Crest. </p><p>The child at some point demanded to be picked up, tired from a full day of romping through the forest, and Din had easily acquiesced. He was actually pretty proud of the boy for lasting as long as he had. The toddler kept nodding off as they walked but Din would bump him awake gently with a little heft here or a tap on the cheek there. Napping just before dinner always led to a long night, and one major benefit of all the exercise that came with their time planetside was that the kid had been dropping off to sleep without a problem the last two nights. He didn’t want to break their streak.</p><p>Arriving back to the little camp he’d set up just outside the Crest’s open bay door, he set the child down on the stump beside the fire pit, watching little fists rub groggy eyes with a small smirk on his lips as he lit the kindling in the stone circle.</p><p>Then, he’d set to work skinning the ash-rabbit with his blade and spearing it on a spoke to place over the fire. He’d glanced back at the kid as he worked, wondering if he’d react. But despite throwing such a fit about the rabbit earlier, the youngling seemed tired enough that he barely noticed now, eyes squinting and blinking into the crackling fire. His tiny mouth stretched open in a yawn and Din couldn’t help the amused smile twisting the corner of his mouth up.</p><p>Letting the rabbit cook, Din fished out a chunk of the gallaze meat he’d stored from the day before, giving it its own spoke over the fire, then rotated the poles, patiently. </p><p>The smell of cooking meat quickly woke the kid up, ears flicking up with interest as he blinked away his sleepiness. Glancing up at the man sat on the crate beside him, wide eyes fully awake now, he pointed at the fire, chirping hungrily.</p><p>“I know, pal, it’s almost ready.” The helmet angled down at the boy. “You know, you did good today. You didn’t wander off, you caught some frogs, and you walked almost the whole day. So, I cut a big portion for you.”</p><p>A contented trill sounded as the child babbled at him some more. Din gave him a gentle pat on his little back and long ears twitched up happily. Removing his helmet, Din gingerly set it on the crate beside him and glanced down at the youngling, smiling minutely when the little face brightened. Seeing his face always seemed to perk the kid up... </p><p>Despite them being alone together most of the time, and despite the fact that he’d performed the adoption vow months ago now, Din still wasn’t used to taking his helmet off. It left him feeling naked, vulnerable… but there was an equal joy at seeing the kid with his own two eyes, at holding the little body up to his cheek… He still only removed his helmet rarely… but he was trying to remember to do it more, when it was just the two of them. They were learning, together.</p><p>Reaching forward, Din pulled the child’s meal out of the fire, peeling it off the spoke and onto a waiting plate. Cutting it into small pieces, he added a handful of the greens they’d foraged earlier that day, then handed the small plate to the youngling, who eagerly gripped it on his lap. </p><p>Cooing happily, the child reached for a piece of gallaze and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing contentedly. Din shook his head.</p><p>“Go slow, <em> ad’ika</em>, it’s still hot.” But the kid didn’t listen and the temperature of the meat didn’t seem to bother him, so the man shrugged and reached for his own spoke with the rabbit, now blackened around the edges. Not bothering with a plate Din blew on the sizzling skewer, then pulled a piece of meat from the rabbit’s hind leg, examining it for a moment to ensure it was cooked. Just as he was about to pop it into his mouth, the kid suddenly shrieked and Din jerked in surprise, nearly dropping his meal. </p><p>“What the-'' Gaze whipping sharply to the kid, the man saw that the boy had toppled his own little plate to the floor, meat and greens now mingled with the dirt. The child had rushed to the edge of his stump reaching for Din and making urgent high-pitched sounds. Din’s brows were nearly at his hairline.</p><p>“Kid- what-” He looked down at the meat in his hands then back at the reaching arms. “I thought you didn’t want any rabbit?” Wondering what the heck the kid was so upset about, he extended the strip of cooked hindmeat to the boy, offering it to him. “Did you want to try som-”</p><p>Before he could even finish his sentence the kid had slapped the meat out of his hand so that it, too, dropped to the dirt floor.</p><p>“Hey!” Din admonished, spluttering. “No! Bad! That’s our meal, kid. What the heck has gotten into you?”</p><p>The child just babbled at him, ears flopping up and down, arms gesturing and sounding very upset. Din’s frown deepened and he sighed.</p><p>“You were doing so well today, too… Kid, you can’t just ruin your dinner and expect there to be more. If you don’t want meat, then you get rations.” The man huffed in irritation. “And I’ll get it for you after I’m done. You can’t act like this, alright?” </p><p>The kid’s ears had dropped low and he was warbling pitifully now. Din tried to stay firm. The boy was usually so well behaved… but he knew that he couldn’t ignore bad behavior when it happened. As tough as it was to discipline the kid, it wasn’t the first time he’d had to do it, for his own safety.</p><p>Shaking his head, the man turned back to his meal, peeling off another hunk of meat. This time, when he tried to eat it, the kid full out screamed, flinging out a short claw that caused the piece he’d been holding and the entire ash-rabbit, spoke and all, to go flying across the clearing. Din launched to his feet in surprise, then glared down at the toddler, truly angry now.</p><p>“<em>Kid! </em> What is going <b> <em>on</em> </b> with you?” Towering over the little figure with a stern expression on his face, brows furrowed, the child whimpered and curled in on himself. Dropping to a crouch in front of the little huddled figure, Din fixed him with a hard stare. </p><p>“<em>Ad’ika</em>. That was <b> <em>not</em> </b> nice. You just ruined both our meals. What’s with the attitude, huh?” The boy warbled sadly and curiosity started bleeding into his ire. Din's brain started churning, watching the youngling sniffle miserably. “You’ve never used your powers on me like that before…” He continued, trailing off, unsure if he was asking a question or accusing the kid now…</p><p>Suddenly, Din heard a loud rustle and immediately stood to shield the kid, replacing his helmet with one hand as his vibroblade appeared in the other instantly. Flicking on his head lamp, the far edge of their camp illuminated to reveal a crait-fox ripping into the cooked ash-rabbit. Yellow eyes darted up at them and the fox growled as it chomped away, but it didn’t stop eating. </p><p>Well, the meal was well and truly lost now. Din’s shoulders slumped tiredly, his stance relaxing. He didn’t sheathe his blade or move from his position shielding the child, though. It may only be a crait-fox, which were generally harmless forest scavengers, but the kid was small too… small enough to be prey, and despite his large presence, scavengers were sometimes willing to take the risk. He’d keep his headlamp trained on the animal until it had its fill and left, just to be sure. A soft coo sounded beside him as the toddler pushed his cloak aside to peek around it, curious about the animal. Din didn’t dare glance down, as the light was attached to his helmet. Keeping the fox in his sight kept him in control. The kid warbled again, sadly this time. </p><p>And then... an awful hacking, choking sound erupted from the fox. It wheezed and coughed, the sound painful and wet. Din grimaced, but couldn’t look away. It was mercifully quick… after only a few minutes of horrific whines mingled between retching gags, the fox stumbled to its forepaws, then slumped to the side, still. </p><hr/><p>Din stood silently, stunned. The child behind him had also gone quiet. After a long, frozen minute, the man shook himself.</p><p>Taking a moment to scan their surroundings warily, Din didn’t see any other heat signatures… if the fox was traveling without a pack, that would explain its desperation for food...</p><p>Holding a hand out behind him, motioninging to the child to remain where he was, the bounty hunter tread up to the body, approaching slowly. When he reached it and angled his headlamp down, he realized the caution had been needless. The animal was clearly dead, tongue lolled out of its mouth and eyes glazed, but otherwise intact, no obvious wounds... Just as the ash-rabbit had looked… </p><p>Crouching down, Din pushed the fox’s body aside to examine the cooked rabbit. It was nearly half eaten already, the corpse shredded brutally. Picking up a small piece of meat, he held it up to his viewfinder and flicked through his helmet’s settings until he saw the flash of a chemical compound being identified on his HUD. </p><p>
  <em> Cyano-bromethalin. </em>
</p><p>“Poison…” Din whispered to himself, shocked. The poison wasn’t exactly rare… bromethalin was used commonly to control pests, but the cyano compound would make the poison ultra powerful… and fast acting. Looking down at the remains of the ash-rabbit, Din guessed it had wandered too close to the farm, been attracted to bait for pests, then died out in the forest. It must have eaten quite a lot for the concentration he was seeing… concentrated enough that the next creature to eat it perished on the spot.</p><p>Just like he would have… if he’d eaten it. </p><p>Dropping the meat and wiping his glove on his cloak, Din flicked off his headlamp and stood, staring down at the still body in the dark shadow of their camp’s edge a moment longer. His mind reeled.</p><p><em>The kid</em>… the kid had been trying to tell him.. had <em> known,</em> somehow. But <em>how?!</em></p><p>The Mandalorian took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to calm his tumbling thoughts. Regardless, the kid had saved him… again. Stepping aside, he looked back at their campfire. The child was sitting there on his little stump, watching him silently. Firelight danced in his wide, glassy eyes. </p><p>Clenching his jaw, Din strode back to the kid, then dropped to a knee in front of him, removing his helmet. Their eyes met, the toddler fidgeting nervously with his robe. Watching him, a small smirk flicked up the corner of his mouth before it fell again. Reaching up, the man took the diminutive clawed hands in his fingertips, holding them still. He looked at them, rubbing a thumb over the back of one little hand before he finally looked back up, heart unexpectedly lodged in his throat.</p><p>Again… again, they’d come so close to tragedy. He felt shaken, but not as shaken as the kid looked, wilted before him. That wouldn’t do.</p><p>“I’m... sorry I yelled at you, <em> ad’ika</em>.” The child shook his tiny head, ears flopping, but Din squeezed his fingers gently. </p><p>“No, kid, I was wrong. You were trying to tell me something, and I didn’t listen. I didn’t… I didn’t know that you could… know things like that.” He sighed then, and chuckled softly.</p><p>“But I suppose I should have guessed.” He brought up a knuckle to cuff a little cheek softly, voice low and sincere. “Thank you, <em> ad’ika</em>. You saved me. Again.”</p><p>Finally, the kid’s face angled up to look at him, mouth wobbling. Little arms reached up for him.</p><p>“Oh, buddy.” Din sighed, scooping up the child into his arms and curling him tight against his chest as little sniffles sounded from his neck. “I’m okay.” He murmured, rising from his knee to settle on the stump where the kid had stood, settling the boy in his lap. He just held the little form as the toddler stifled whimpers, trying not to cry. Gently patting the narrow back as the kid quieted down, Din watched the fire crackle, thinking grimly about all the things he <em> didn’t </em> know about his ward’s mysterious powers…</p><p>Eventually, he felt the little bundle of robes shifting against him, and he pulled the boy away so that he could look him over. The kid’s eyes were still wide and wet, but he looked calmer now. </p><p>“See? Everything’s okay.” </p><p>A soft babble and coo sounded, and then the kid was pointing down at the ground, where the remains of his ruined meal still sat in the dirt by Din’s boot. Din followed his gaze and sighed, looking back at the kid with a sardonic twist of his mouth. Seeing that the man wasn’t angry, the kid’s mood seemed to lift.</p><p>“Right. Whaddaya say we we eat vegetarian tonight?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>OK, I know this one isn't really whump, it's literally just like, Parent!Din, being a dad... doing dad stuff... like a DAD... with a *splash* of angst.</p><p>For the prompt "Poisoning" I really could have cranked any number of super whumpy tropes to torture our favorite characters, and maybe I still will, but for some reason, this is what my brain really wanted to write. *shrug* So I went with it.</p><p>Maybe not my best so far, but I had fun with it. I just love these two way too much.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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